The Weakest Emperor
by Solomon1984
Summary: He was called as the weakest son of one of the strongest people in the world. Some called him 'The Emperor's disgrace'. Even though he has been confined to a wheelchair for most of his life, his actions will not be so constrained. He had never let the world dictate his steps and he will not let it start now. He will make his mark on the world. OC/Robin eventually. Canon divergent.
1. Prologue

"_He is so … weak, are you certain that he is my child?_" the voice of a woman echoed throughout the chambers even as all the medical personnel within the room felt a chill run through their very souls. And considering who it was that was speaking, it was not just a rhetorical term of reference.

Her voice was calm, rational and above all lucid, which was very out of order for the most volatile and intemperate woman in the world. Her eldest and second eldest sons were in the chamber, and even they seemed tense.

And the point of origin of all this tenseness was wrapped in a small bundle of clothes, held by a shivering nurse, while the mother gazed at her newest offspring, who was currently asleep.

"Hmm," sighed the head doctor, even as he removed his glasses and looked at Charlotte LinLin, known world over as Big Mom, also known as one of the Four Emperors of the Sea.

"Yes, Mama. There is no doubt. He is your son. It is just that according to our tests... we have found that the boy is suffering from a variant of Macrocytic Anemia, more specifically, it means that he has a very high MCH value, meaning that the hemoglobin count in his blood is very high. Furthermore, he is also suffering from a diluted variant of Amber Lead disease. I am sorry, but this child is going to have a very rough life. It will be a miracle if he survives to be eighteen years old of age," the doctor reported in a somber mood, while the eyes of Katakuri and Perospero narrowed.

"How is that possible? For someone like Mama to have actually given birth to someone with this kind of deficiency? No child of Mama's bloodline has displayed such weakness! How did this happen?" Perospero asked in indignation, while Katakuri just remained still, though his muscles tensed.

"Ahh," the doctor replied, "I believe that I have the answer. As soon as we identified the cause for the child's disabilities, I requested Lady Brulee to conduct a search of Mama's residence in the Whole Cake Chateau. We have discovered that certain gifts that were presented to Mama over the last ten months were actually laced with the poisoned Amber Lead obtained from Flevance. It has been very cleverly masked, but it is certain that this was a targeted assassination attempt at Mama herself. Though, in my opinion, the people who were behind this seem to be ignorant of how Amber Lead actually works. It was completely useless against Mama of course, considering who she is, but being exposed to that material while she was carrying the child had an adverse effect on the development of the fetus," the doctor finished, and at once, the room was filled with a terrifying presence, overwhelming and crushing in intensity, which forced the doctor and most of the nurses to their knees.

The source of course was from Big Mom herself, as well as Katakuri who were leaking their ill-masked Haki in torrents, and even Perospero was reddening in rage.

"Katakuri-sama, Mama, please control yourselves," the nurse who was holding the baby screamed, even as the child began to wail, and immediately the Sweet General reined in his temper with a grunt.

Meanwhile, Big Mom got up from the bed and walked out of the room without even turning to spare a glance at her newborn child. As expected of a woman, who saw all her children as a means to an end and pawns to use. To her, the new child was a weakling and of no use, and therefore not worthy of her attention. Her mind was already fixated on the fact that she had been subjected to an assassination attempt, and her wrath had been aroused.

As he watched his mother and captain walk out, Katakuri sighed, and looked at Perospero who seemed resigned to the development.

"I will go ahead and minimize the damage from her rampage," the eldest son of the Charlotte family and the first mate of the Big Mom Pirates spoke out softly, as he walked out.

"Doctor, what can be done to cure him of this issue?" Katakuri asked the head doctor even as he gazed at his youngest sibling with an inscrutable gaze.

"There is no known medical cure to this problem, Katakuri-sama, however," the doctor paused, even as he gazed at the sweet general with a pitiful gaze.

"However, … what?" Katakuri asked the doctor, who sighed deeply. "The only way to cure your sibling and ensure that he survives past his eighteenth birthday is by providing him with a devil fruit. Two specific one's come to my mind, as either one of them will cure him. One of them is so dangerous, that it is almost impossible to find, as the world government zealously seeks it out whenever it appears. Any wielder of that fruit is either hunted down by Cipher Pol or forced to work for the government," the doctor concluded, while the sweet general narrowed his eyes.

"Which one is it?"

"The Ope-Ope no Mi, also known as the ultimate devil fruit. It allows its wielder to perform miracles by freeing them of the shackles of physical limitations and any deformities and cures them of any and all diseases. It is even rumored that the wielders of this fruit have the power to grant immortality to whomsoever they choose. The world government has valued it at 5 billion berries! Not even the devil fruits of the three admirals are valued that highly! The knowledge of this fruit is highly restricted and hence not known worldwide. I learned of its existence when I was a student under Dr. Hogback," the head doctor admitted, while for the first time in his life Charlotte Katakuri was stunned into silence.

"And the other one?" he asked in a gruff tone, to which the doctor replied with a wan smile.

"Well, the other fruit would be a Zoan type, Mythical Zoan to be exact. A user of that fruit will have his human body mimic the characteristics of the body into which they transform, meaning they will substitute their human body with that of the Zoan creature's body. But, that kind of fruit is the rarest one there is. The only known user of such a fruit in the last 300 years is Whitebeard's first mate, Marco the Phoenix."

"What about a Logia? Would that help? It is far easier to obtain after all," Katakuri opined, to which the doctor shook his head.

"A Logia is a temporary solution, Katakuri-sama, it would not work in the long term. The child's physique is too frail to withstand the effects of a logia. A Mythical Zoan on the other hand would completely restructure his body and give him a new physique itself, while the Logia will only give him the power of an element, and do nothing to alleviate the actual problem. Even if he gains the power of an element, he will still be trapped in the frail physical shell he will possess as a body," the doctor replied, to which Katakuri nodded in agreement.

"Hmm… do what you can for my little brother, doctor. I have a couple of devil fruits to hunt," Katakuri replied, even as he walked out.

* * *

**5 hours later,**

* * *

"What is the damage this time?" Charlotte Smoothie, one of the four Sweet General's asked Perospero, even as the officers of the Big Mom Pirates gathered to take stock of the damage caused by the latest rampage of their mother.

"Four islands damaged, and Nuts island is completely wrecked," Charlotte Oven, the 4th son replied with a grimace even as the others frowned.

"Streusen can repair it easily, that is not the issue," Perospero pointed out. "The point is that someone actually attempted to assassinate Mama, and got close to her even if they failed. We need to find out who they are and how they achieved this," the eldest son spoke out, while everyone nodded in agreement.

"Amber lead is rare to gain after the Flevance massacre. If the gifts given to Mama were laced with it, then the one's who did this must have gained it from the black-market dealers. Find out who sold it recently, and more importantly, to whom, and we will have our answer," Charlotte Daifuku, the 3rd son spoke out, and there were guarded nods amongst them all.

"I will send out Tamago and Mont d'or. They should be able to find out the answers we need," Perospero agreed.

"While you are at it, tell them to spread the word that we are looking for two devil fruits. Either the Ope-Ope no mi or a Mythical Zoan type fruit. Either will do. Price is not an issue. Gather as much information as you can," Katakuri ordered Daifuku while the others seemed surprised.

"What for?" Smoothie asked in surprise, even as Perospero looked at him guardedly before his eyes widened in recognition.

"I see, I agree. Daifuku, you see to it," Perospero agreed as well, while the others seemed surprised.

"What is going on?" Daifuku asked in confusion, to which Katakuri sighed.

"Apparently, only one of those two fruits can save the life of our newest brother," Katakuri explained, even as he spoke in detail about what they had discovered about their newest sibling.

"**Unforgivable! Those bastards! Not only did they try to kill Mama, but they half-assed it and ruined our newest brother's life as well! I am going to roast them alive when I get my hands on them!**" Oven roared in rage, even as his body took an orange hue and steam began to rise from his body.

"Where is he now?" Smoothie asked, with a hint of concern in her tone, while Katakuri sighed, "I have asked Galette and Brulee to take care of him for now. They are in charge of all the young ones and are already taking care of Pudding and Raisin. They will take care of him as well."

"What did Mama name him as?" Daifuku asked in curiosity even as Perospero sighed.

"Charlotte Deidra."

* * *

**Six Years later,**

* * *

As he watched his brother walk in, Perospero looked at him with a pale smirk on his face.

"Really, brother, was it necessary for you to thrash that fool that hard? The intelligence reports say that Doflamingo has run back screaming to Mariejois, and has actually accepted the position of warlord now, partly to protect himself from us!" the first mate of the Big Mom pirates smirked, even as Katakuri scowled. The Press reports were actually reporting the opposite of what was in the intelligence report in Perospero's hands. A warlord was supposed to be an equal force to counter the Emperor's after all. The World Government would not allow anything to tarnish that reputation. Though that raised the question of how Doflamingo had managed to wiggle his way into that group when he had been thrashed black and blue by Katakuri. Something for their agents to look into, Perospero made a note in the margins to that effect.

The news had hit the world hard that Charlotte Katakuri, the strongest of the commanders under the Yonko, Big Mom, had recently clashed with one of the top rookies of the current era, Don Quixote Doflamingo at Minion island. Though the actual details were not known to the world at large, the results of the battle had been mostly hard for the brash rookie, who had suffered brutally, especially when one of his top men, named Vergo, had overestimated himself and had challenged Katakuri openly, just to lose his life in return. Only the arrival of the Marines under Vice-Admiral Tsuru herself had forced both sides to disengage and run, with the Don Quixote pirates clearly smarting from their losses.

"The fool did not know his place. He thought that just having Conqueror's Haki allowed him to stand on equal ground with Mama herself. I showed that little frog in the well, just how big the real world is," Katakuri scoffed, even as he sat down on the sofa at the other end.

"Well, your bounty has now officially crossed 1 billion. You are the second highest ranked bounty in the Big Mom pirates after Mama now," Perospero smirked, even as he unfurled a new bounty poster and let his brother have a look.

"So, were the rumors true? Did they actually have that fruit under their possession?" Perospero asked with a tense gaze after a moment of silence, even as Katakuri grunted in agreement.

"We were too late," the Sweet General replied back. "They did have the fruit, but Doflamingo was double crossed by one of his own men, who had fed that fruit to another child suffering from the Amber Lead syndrome, believe it or not. Apparently, the man was a mole for the marines, and it seems that they had their own plans for the fruit. It is out of our reach now. Sengoku was invested enough to send Tsuru herself to collect it, and the new user as well. That child is under Tsuru's care and is now on the way to Marineford," Katakuri growled.

"What?!" Perospero asked in shock, even as he looked at his brother with disbelief wide open in his eyes.

"And you could not do anything to intervene, I take it?" Perospero asked with a listless tone, even as Katakuri clenched his fists.

"Tsuru had a very imposing bodyguard accompanying her," he replied back, to which Perospero raised his eyebrows in question. There were not many men in the world who could make his brother back off from a fight.

"_It was Garp_," the answer stifled any objections that Perospero could make before he could think of any. Monkey D. Garp had that kind of effect wherever he went, after all.

"So, the Ope-Ope no mi is out of our reach. This is not good news, brother. Galette and Brulee will be devastated. They were hoping that you would succeed for Deidra's sake," Perospero sighed, even as he ruffled his hair.

"They will understand. Circumstances developed even beyond my ability to control," Katakuri shrugged, even as Perospero nodded.

"How is Deidra doing, nowadays?" Katakuri asked after a while, while Perospero paused. Their 35th brother had become somewhat of a soft spot for most of the elder children of LinLin.

Though there had been some initial instances of bullying when Deidra had become old enough to walk and talk, because of his weakness, it had been stifled brutally by his fellow siblings around the same age. More specifically, by Pudding, Lola and Chiffon, who had taken it upon themselves to act as the boy's caretakers.

By now, it was a known secret that Charlotte Deidra, the 35th son of Big Mom was suffering from a terminal disease and was not expected to live past his eighteenth birthday. Even Deidra himself had learned of it, and it had taken a toll on him.

It had been one of the unspoken rules set forth by Perospero and Katakuri in Totland that Deidra was to never learn of his condition, but one unfortunate day, a drunken crew member had blurted out the truth to the young child who was five years old at the time, while in an inebriated state, about what was going on. Though he had been immediately subdued, the damage was done. The boy had gone into shock and had become a sobbing, shivering wreck who had collapsed with the strain of the news.

It was far merciful a fate, compared to the drunken fool who had been handed over to Brulee and Oven for punishment. It became a cardinal rule after that event to never speak ill of Charlotte Deidra again in Totland.

"The initial effects of his condition are starting to show up. He is already beginning to display signs of shortness of breath, as well as symptoms of fatigue and chest pains. His skin is also beginning to pale. Any strenuous activity will hasten the symptoms according to the doctor. He is beginning to move around in a wheelchair most of the time now," Perospero sighed, while Katakuri frowned.

"We are running out of time. With the Ope-Ope no mi out of our reach, we must increase efforts to find a Mythical Zoan fruit as much as possible. But the Beast is interfering in that search. He has declared a monopoly over Zoan fruits, as according to him, only his crew who are made up of true beasts have the right to claim such fruits. And Mama will not contest his declaration for our brother. You know that. She does not deem it worth the effort," Katakuri growled, while Perospero scowled.

Say what about pirates one may, none could deny the love the children of Big Mom had for each other of their siblings.

Suddenly, the transponder snail on Perospero's desk rang. Even as Perospero picked it up, the panicked voice of Brulee came out, "Brother, Hurry! Mama is making all our siblings who are above six years old, pick their devil fruits. She has ordered Deidra to participate as well!" their sister cried out, while the eyes of the first mate and the sweet general widened in shock.

"Damn!" Perospero growled and picked up his candy cane and dashed out after Katakuri who had already vanished from sight.

* * *

**Whole Cake Chateau, Big Mom's Throne Room**

* * *

At the whole cake chateau, within the throne room, most of the members of the Charlotte family had gathered after receiving a call from their mother to assemble. At the center of the hall, in an elevated dais, Charlotte LinLin, the Emperor of the Sea known all over as Big Mom, held court currently.

In the middle of the hall stood five children. Four of them were standing, while the last was in a wheelchair. All four who were standing were girls, while the other child was a boy.

The girls who were standing to the side with apprehensive eyes were known as Charlotte Pudding, Charlotte Joscarpone, Charlotte Joconde and finally, Charlotte Nutmeg. Respectively the 35th, 29th, 27th, and 30th daughters of Charlotte LinLin.

On the other side, sitting in the wheelchair was a frail boy, with blue hair and pale skin, wearing a white shirt and shorts, with his head hanging down. To the either side of the chair were two chess pawn soldiers, carrying various medicines and items needed by the boy. This, was Charlotte Deidra, the 35th son of the Charlotte family and the one child of hers, that LinLin herself considered to be a stain on her own legacy due to his weakness.

In front of the children was a table upon which laid nearly a dozen devil fruits. The girls were looking at the table apprehensively, while Deidra was nonchalant.

Meanwhile, Smoothie and Mont D'or had been trying to convince in vain to their mother that Deidra was not strong enough to survive eating a devil fruit, but they were not having any success. Suddenly, the door opened and Katakuri and Perospero walked in.

"Mama Mama…," LinLin laughed heartily as she watched her two most capable sons walk in. "Come Katakuri, Perospero, the party is about to start! Let us watch," she laughed heartily even as she stuffed dozens of cream puffs into her mouth at a time.

"Mama, it is fine for the girls, but I ask you to leave Deidra out of this. He is not strong enough to …," Katakuri pleaded to his mother, while her eyes narrowed in irritation at the interruption.

A torrential blast of Haki erupted from her and almost forced Katakuri to his knees. "Katakuri, are you voicing your opposition to me? You may be my son, but there are limits to what I will tolerate from you," she growled, even as beads of sweat began to form upon Katakuri's brow.

"But Mama, he is too weak to survive eating a devil fruit. He could die from the backlash," Perospero blurted out, for which he was also subjected to a generous dose of killing intent and Haki.

"If it happens, it happens. That will be all he will amount to then," was the brutal reply by the Emperor. "He is a son of Charlotte, there is no room for weakness in this family," the reply was curt, brutal, uncaring and so characteristically natural for Big Mom.

"Then at least give me some time to find a proper devil fruit for him. A Mythical Zoan fruit can cure him," Katakuri insisted, to which LinLin laughed.

"And where will you get it, Katakuri? And even if you have a chance to do so, do you think that _Kaido_ will allow you to gain such a fruit so easily?" his mother asked casually, even as she threw in a few more cream puffs into her mouth, and gazed at her son with a malice filled look.

They were all interrupted by the sound of creaking wheels, and turned around only to be shocked by what they saw. A small boy getting up from his wheelchair and walking towards the table containing the platter of devil fruits.

"Deidra, what are you doing?" Brulee shouted out in fear as she rushed towards her little brother who stared back at her defiantly. Brulee faltered and stopped even as the boy silently made his way forward.

Even LinLin paused and looked amused at the defiance shown by her weakling son. _Well, at least he was not a complete waste after all._

"Head chef, have you identified all these devil fruits?" Deidra asked Streusen, the head chef, who was looking at the boy inscrutably. For a second, in Streusen's mind, the boy's silhouette was superimposed by the image a haughty five-year-old girl whom he had met sixty years ago. He chuckled. It seemed that LinLin had misjudged this offspring of hers. But he would not speak out. Blood would tell in the due course of time.

"Hmm, young master, we have thirteen devil fruits here! We have managed to identify eleven of them. We don't know what kind of fruits the last two are, but we believe they are of Paramecia type," the old chef pointed out with a smile at the various fruits and the boy nodded.

Then to the stupefaction of everyone involved, Deidra went towards the two unidentified fruits and picked them up in each hand.

"Hmm," even LinLin seemed surprised at that move. "Well now, this is surprising. He may not have inherited my strength, but he certainly seems to have inherited my appetite. Mama Mama …," she laughed heartily, while his siblings tried to dissuade him of the foolish notion.

"Deidra, don't be a fool. No one has eaten two devil fruits and survived!"

"Don't be so hasty!"

"Wait!"

"You will die if you eat two of them!" this came from Galette who screamed, even as Deidra looked at his sister with a thin smile on his face.

"It doesn't matter, sister! Even if by some miracle I survive eating these two, I will still die in ten years anyways. It does not matter if I die now or in ten years," and then, with trembling hands, the seven-year-old boy bit two chunks from each of the two devil fruits, one after the other.

"Mama Mama … Hahaha, well said! It seems you have inherited a bit of my blood after all! Strength and conviction are all that matters, Deidra!" LinLin praised her weakling son for the first time in her life, even as a towering pillar of energy surrounded the young boy, accompanied by exclamations of concern from his worried siblings who were present.

* * *

**Note:**

This story starts 20 years before canon with the birth of the Main Character.

There will be some changes and deviations to the story lines of some characters.

The MC will cause major butterflies which will impact the canon story line in due course.

In Irish Baby Names, the meaning of the name Deidra is: Melancholy. I thought it would suit this character well.


	2. Lola

When he regained consciousness, Deidra felt something soft enveloping him completely. He opened his eyes and found that he was lying down on his bed in his mansion. He tried to turn around to look at the clock, and immediately felt his body twinge in discomfort. He groaned and tried to get up and winced again.

Then suddenly, it him like a thunderbolt from Zeus! HE WAS STILL ALIVE AFTER EATING TWO DEVIL FRUITS! THIS SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE! HE SHOULD BE DEAD! WHY WAS HE STILL … At that moment, the monitor plugged to track his health began to beep erratically even as he began to hyperventilate. In his panic, he did not notice the door to his room being flung open with a bang, as a flurry of footsteps were heard. Soon, a team of doctors, followed by Perospero, Katakuri, Brulee, Galette, Lola, Chiffon, Pudding and others ran into the room, only to pause in shock as they saw the hyperventilating boy sitting on his bed with a terrified look on his face.

"He is … alive! Impossible! He actually survived eating two devil fruits!" Brulee whispered in total shock as all of his elder siblings looked at him, stunned and struggling to accept the anomaly to natural law that they saw right in front of them.

Suddenly, Deidra began to heave and retch, even as the doctors and nurses rushed forward, followed by his sisters, while Katakuri and Perospero looked at each other unable to decide on their next course of action for the first time in their life in a long while.

* * *

**8 years later,**

* * *

Totland was currently in a festive mood, as fireworks were being burst in regular intervals all over the skyline, while servants ran around decorating the city. Banners were being hung all around to welcome the all-important guests that were arriving in a few hours.

From their vantage point in the Whole Cake Chateau, Charlotte Opera, the 5th son muttered in surprise, "Man, Mama is sparing no expense for this tea party, is she?", even as Charlotte Cracker, the 10th son and one of the Sweet General's snorted in response.

"Of course, she is going all out, fool! This is the single greatest dream that she has had since her childhood, and it is now coming true! Besides, with this marriage ceremony she will finally gain the alliance of the most powerful army in the world and will be able to take the crown that Roger stole from her, all those years ago!" Cracker replied matter-of-factly, while Opera grunted in agreement.

"Still, that Prince of Giants must be blind or something! Of all the women he could fall for in our family, he fell for that moron, Lola! I mean, can you imagine picking someone like Lola, when the likes of Galette, Smoothie, Custard, Cinnamon and Marble are present? Love really is blind!" Charlotte Snack, the 25th son, and another of the Sweet General's guffawed, while some of the people present laughed.

"Hey, watch your tone! She is still our sister! Treat her with respect!" Charlotte Bavarois, the 26th son, growled with a bit of anger in his tone, while Snack raised his hands, indicating that he meant no real offense.

"Still, even I was surprised to hear that the Prince of Giants of all people proposed marriage to our sister," Charlotte Raisin, the 33rd son pointed out, shaking his head in disbelief. "Peros-Nii said that Mama almost had a heart attack out of sheer joy when she learned of the news," he chuckled, while others around the table also chuckled in agreement.

"Where is Lola, anyways?" Cracker asked after a moment, to which Snack grumbled, "She is still at the hospital in Liqueur island with the weakling, along with Chiffon," he rolled his eyes, while few of the people at the table snorted in disgust.

"Seriously, even now? What is she doing over there, when she should be here? She should realize that Mama will kill her if she does anything to ruin this day! She knows that, right?" Bavarois asked in a tone full of disbelief, while Snack's face displayed a look of disgust.

"You know that she and Chiffon have always had a soft spot for the weakling! She must be over there trying to console the fool that everything will be all right, even when she is gone," he pointed out, while the others fell silent.

"You should be a bit more respectful, brother! It is not Deidra's fault that he was born that way. Besides, he only has few more years left. Should you really be treating him with such disrespect?" Raisin asked with a bit of heat in his tone, while Snack narrowed his eyes.

"Fuck off!" the Sweet General growled, "I am tired to the death of everyone fawning over that weak piece of shit, like he is made of glass! It is always poor Deidra this, poor Deidra that! Even Mama doesn't give a fuck about him! Why should we?" Snack growled in disgust, while Bavarois and Cracker seemed to agree with his sentiments even if they did not voice it.

"You should be careful of voicing such words in public, Snack! Do you really want to repeat those words in front of Katakuri or Perospero? Heaven forbid if Brulee or Smoothie hear them! Didn't the ass-kicking Smoothie give you the last time teach you anything?" Opera pointed out, while Snack purpled in rage.

Charlotte Deidra and his existence was actually quite a sore point for few of the younger siblings in the family, who felt that their elder siblings doted on their invalid brother a bit too much in their opinion. Being brought up in a brutal world, where it was sibling-eat-sibling in order to survive, coupled with the brutal training's and battles they engaged on a daily basis with the marines and rival pirate crews to prove themselves; it rankled them sorely to see their cherished elder siblings whom they idolized pay more attention to their invalid brother, who could barely move from one place to another without someone pushing his wheelchair, than them.

It had engendered quite a bit of jealousy and resentment among some of the younger members of the family, especially when they saw Katakuri whom they all idolized dote on their invalid brother more than any other sibling in the family. Charlotte Katakuri's efforts to find a suitable devil fruit to cure Deidra and his illness were already the stuff of legends in Totland. The younger generation would, given the chance, literally kill to have him show them the same level of affection he displayed for their invalid brother. It had quite obviously generated a lot of resentment in their minds with regards to their invalid brother.

Though none would dare to physically bully him, due to the fear of what their elder siblings would do to them if caught, it did not stop the jealous siblings from making their displeasure known. Snide comments, rumors, outright disrespect and even taunts were all used liberally against the one they had termed 'the disgrace' of the family. The fact that Big Mom herself did not care a whit for her weakling son also enabled their behavior.

"Damn! Can't believe that even after eating two devil fruits at the same time, that trash didn't croak! He must have the luck of the devil!" Snack groused, while Cracker snorted in amusement.

Charlotte Deidra's miraculous achievement of being known as the only person in history to survive after eating two devil fruits had despite the spectacular achievement, in the end, yielded nothing.

Mama had been completely thrilled and over the moon when her supposedly weakest child had done the impossible and survived after eating two devil fruits. However, all that elation and anticipation had turned to bitterness when it was revealed that Deidra could not access any of the abilities gained from either of the two devil fruits. In fact, that harebrained stunt had actually hastened the decline of his body and Deidra had been permanently confined to his wheelchair ever after. It had become a running joke used to warn everyone as to why one should not eat two devil fruits at the same time, instead.

"I guess one doesn't go until it is their time to go," Opera mused with a thin smile, while Cracker and Raisin chuckled in amusement at seeing Snack's rage. It seemed that Snack had still not gotten over the thrashing that Smoothie had given him for insulting Deidra in front of her presence.

Suddenly, their attention was diverted by the sounds of raid sirens ringing all over the island, shocking them out of their complacency.

"What the hell? That is the invasion alarm! Are we being attacked?" Raisin asked in shock as he grabbed his sword while shouts of alarm rang all over the area in panic.

"No, the question is, which moron is dumb enough to actually attack us of all people?" Cracker snarled even as he raced out, followed by everyone else.

* * *

**Meanwhile, In Liqueur island, Territory of Charlotte Chiffon, 22****nd**** daughter of Charlotte Family,**

* * *

"Tell me this is not true," Chiffon pleaded with her beloved younger brother Deidra, even as her eyes betrayed the terror within. She was trembling in fear upon hearing the news that her brother had conveyed to her.

"It is true, sister._ Lola has run away_," Deidra whispered softly, while Chiffon sank to her knees, her eyes wide in terror, even as her body began to tremble in shock.

"That fool! She went ahead with her stupid plan despite the warnings we gave to her! How could she be so selfish! Does she not know that Mama will kill her and us for this mistake of hers? How could she betray us like this? What was she thinking?" Chiffon sniffed even as tears sprang from her eyes, while Deidra wheeled his chair forward and put his right hand on her shoulders to steady her.

"She was not thinking at all," her younger brother replied softly, even as he held up the note that their runaway sister had left for them. "You know her, Chiffon! That naïve idiot believes that Mama will understand her reasoning that she wants to marry the person she loves! She is an optimistic fool who is willing to believe that there is good in everyone, even Mama! She has asked Mama to forgive her and respect her decision and thanks her for her kindness! It is a miracle that she has this kind of mindset while growing up in this hellhole!" Deidra whispered in disgust at the hopeless naivete that Lola had displayed in her letter.

"Deidra!" Chiffon exclaimed in shock as she looked at her little brother, whose voice had turned very bitter and was looking very dejected. However, Chiffon was alert enough to realize that her brother was hurting from the fact that one of the few people in the island who cared for him had abandoned him without even saying goodbye. It clearly showed in his eyes.

"I am serious, Chiffon!" Deidra growled, which was awkward, considering the fact that his thin and reedy voice was not suited for such harsh tones.

"I would not be surprised if Mama sent some of her assassin's after her! You know how much this marriage means to Mama! This is the greatest ambition of her life, and if this marriage is ruined, she might very well destroy Totland in her rage!" Deidra pointed out, at which Chiffon stiffened in fear.

"You are right! Gods, Mama is going to …," Chiffon began to hyperventilate as she imagined the rage that their mother would begin to feel once the news broke.

"You are actually in far greater danger, sister!" Deidra warned her, to which she paled as her brother looked at her with unflinching eyes. "Mama wants this wedding more than anything, Chiffon! With Lola missing, I wouldn't be surprised if she forced you take her place instead as you both are twins! But Loki will know the difference between you and Lola! He is not a fool who will mistake the woman he loved for someone else! And once this marriage fails, who do you think Mama is going to blame?"

Chiffon sank to the ground, even as she began to feel faint and started to hyperventilate. The sheer terror which gripped her was indescribable. Tears began to stream down her face, even as snot dribbled from her nose and she began to shiver uncontrollably.

"Deidra … help me … please!" she whimpered, even as she looked at her brother with a pitiable look on her face. Her younger brother sighed, even as he wheeled his chair to the window and flicked his hair back.

"If it was anybody else, I would have refused. But I have a debt towards you and Lola that I cannot repay in ten lifetimes," he sighed, even as he looked at his sister with a thin smile on his face.

As Chiffon watched dumbstruck, the runaway note that Lola had written floated into the air in front of them and soon crumbled to ashes.

"Deidra … you," Chiffon whispered, even as she watched her brother use his devil fruit abilities openly in wide-eyed surprise. The fact that Deidra had actually gained abilities from his hare-brained stunt of eating two devil fruits all those years ago, was known only to Lola and Chiffon, who acted as his day-to-day caretakers. Deidra had not allowed even Katakuri and Perospero to learn of this secret of his. It was his most closely guarded secret and key to his future plans.

"We have very little time," Deidra pointed out, even as Chiffon nodded in agreement realizing the seriousness of the situation seeing that Deidra was willing to use his abilities, which he loathed to do usually.

"We must make it so that everyone believes that Lola was kidnapped, no, better make it so that it appears as if we were attacked and she went missing during the attack. If we say she was kidnapped directly, and she is later found, we will be in trouble as well, as the truth will get out. It is better if they come to that conclusion themselves," Deidra pointed out, even as he racked his brain for a few seconds.

"Chiffon," he pointed out a few minutes later to his sister, "Go to the storage room and open the valves of all the propane tanks and oxygen cylinders and place them in vantage points around the building. Enough to damage the building but not destroy it completely, mind you! See to it that you are not detected, or all is lost! We will stage an attack and once everyone comes to investigate, we will claim that we were attacked and that once we woke up, Lola was missing! We will make the family believe that she was kidnapped rather than letting them learn that she ran away!" he finished, even as Chiffon looked at him with jaws wide open in disbelief.

"Hurry! We don't have enough time!" Deidra warned her, at which she collected herself and nodded stiffly and ran out.

Half an hour later, she returned to his room and nodded gingerly.

"Deidra, there are others here who will be caught in the blast! There will be innocents caught in collateral damage!" she warned her brother, who looked at her with cold eyes.

"It cannot be helped! Prepare yourself! I will shield us from the worst of the blast, but we must allow ourselves to be injured, seriously enough to make our ploy seem credible!" Deidra warned and focused for a moment. Soon, his body was glowing in a faint blue light, even as Chiffon moved herself closer to his wheelchair.

A minute later, a resounding blast that could be heard for miles emanated from the area, as a virulent explosion tore through the building, even as a large cloud of smoke drifted through the air.

* * *

**Whole Cake Chateau,**

* * *

The moment the alarms began to ring out, every single commander of the Big Mom Pirates raced towards the main hall to find out what was going on.

"What is going on?" Perospero roared in anger as he skidded into the room having run all the way over, even as all the Sweet General's dashed into the room followed by the various commanders.

Charlotte Mont D'or, the 19th son of the Charlotte family, quickly addressed one of the chess soldiers in the room. "Quickly, get an update on what is going on!" he ordered the soldiers and began to co-ordinate the calls coming from all over Totland from various Transponder Snails.

"Mont D'or – sama, there has been an attack on Liqueur island! Reports are very sketchy, but it seems that there are numerous casualties!" a chess soldier reported quickly, as he held the receiver of a snail to his ear and then reported back with a fearful tone.

"**What? An attack? On Liqueur island? Who did it? And how? Find out!**" Perospero ordered in a towering rage, as a ripple of shock spread through all the members present.

"Who has the balls to attack us? At our home no less?" Snack roared in anger while Cracker and Bavarois purpled in rage.

"An attack on our home is a disgrace! How the hell did this happen! What were the security guards doing?" Oven asked in anger, even as Katakuri and the other Sweet General's began to congregate together.

"We have a report!" A chess soldier spoke out quickly, as all eyes turned towards him.

"There was an attack on Lady Chiffon's mansion! Lord Deidra and Lady Chiffon are severely injured! And … and Lady Lola is … Lady Lola is … apparently missing!" the soldier spoke out in sheer terror lacing his tones while all the children of Big Mom felt the very blood in their veins freeze.

"What?" Katakuri whispered in shock, while Cracker fell on his butt with his face paling in fear. Even Perospero began to tremble while Smoothie's lips turned white.

"Katakuri!" Perospero roared with a voice tinged with fear even as the strongest Sweet General raced out followed by the other Sweet General's. A moment later everybody else followed out.

"Mont D'or, you will co-ordinate the response from here with Raisin! Everybody else follow me!" Perospero ordered, even as he too raced out, only to notice that his siblings were already using Brulee's mirror dimension to move towards the area.

When they arrived at the area, they noticed that the whole area was awash with activity. Numerous chess soldiers and other homies were moving around, dousing the fires and clearing the rubble. At one side was Baron Tamago, one of the senior officers of the crew who was coordinating the efforts.

"Tamago! Report!" Katakuri ordered the long-leg man who seemed relieved at seeing the scale of reinforcement's that had arrived.

"Ah! Katakuri-sama! Thank goodness that you arrived! Things are very bad-bon!" the man seemed very relieved at seeing him arrive.

"I can see that! What happened here?" Katakuri snapped in anger, while Tamago paled at seeing the normally implacable Sweet General so riled up.

"Well, a few minutes ago, there was an alert raised here that someone had intruded-soir! But before the guards could respond, there was a massive explosion which destroyed the building as you see! We have since then been trying to clear the rubble and pull the survivor's out – bon!" the bird-man spoke out, while the eyes of the commander's narrowed.

"So, it was an attack! An intruder alert, you say? Then, did the territory slugs pick up any intruders near the island?" Oven asked, even as his rage was palpable to everyone.

"That is the point – bon! The territory slugs have not reported any ship movement arriving at the island! But, they did report a ship leaving the territory around the time the explosion occurred – soir!" Tamago replied, even as Perospero narrowed his eyes.

"Whose ship was it?"

Here, Tamago paused, and then spoke softly, "It was Lady Lola's ship, though it was reported that she was not aboard!" the baron finished his report while the air grew thicker.

"Watch your tone, Tamago! Are you implying that our sister did this?" Cracker growled, even as Tamago hurriedly waved his hands in denial.

"I would not dare – bon! But the point is, you must all remember that today is the day Lady Lola was supposed to be married – soir! Now, her residence has been bombed and Lady Chiffon and Lord Deidra are trapped inside this rubble! And Lady Lola's ship left around the time of this bombing, but she was not aboard the ship! The implications are not good – soir!" the baron pointed out, while the others paled.

"Damn! Deidra! Chiffon! Get them out first! We can find out what happened later!" Smoothie growled and moved forward, as all the commander's moved towards the rubble.

Cracker began to create his biscuit soldiers to help remove the rubble, while Daifuku summoned his genie to do the same. Katakuri was already using his power to pull large pieces of rubble aside. All of the siblings worked at a furious pace, and soon they found what they were searching for.

"Found them!" Cracker roared, as everybody else raced to the location.

Soon, Cracker pulled the last of the rubble and stifled a gasp as he noticed what was in front of him.

Deidra was lying on the ground, covered in scratches and bleeding from a cut on his forehead, while Chiffon was laid upon him, shielding him with her body, clearly unconscious bleeding from a large gash on her back.

"Brother!" Deidra gasped, even as Cracker quickly picked up Chiffon while one of his biscuit soldiers picked up Deidra.

Soon, all the siblings arrived and took a look at their injured siblings and their already foul tempers fouled even further. Even Snack who ordinarily did not like Deidra could not help but feel enraged on behalf of his brother.

"Get a stretcher!" Brulee roared, even as a group of chess soldiers raced ahead with a stretcher and soon, Chiffon was placed on the stretcher and taken towards the medical section. Galette and Opera accompanied her along the way.

Meanwhile, Katakuri created a new wheelchair for Deidra from his mochi abilities and placed his brother on the chair while a couple of doctors raced forward with an oxygen mask and other medical equipment. Deidra began to breathe from the mask, while the doctors began to patch his wounds, which were far less in intensity than Chiffon's, the observer's noted.

"Looks like Chiffon shielded him with her body," Perospero nodded in grudging approval, while others nodded in agreement as well. Everyone knew that the twins were close with their invalid brother after all.

"Deidra, what happened?" Snack asked after a moment, even as Smoothie hissed in anger.

"Snack! Wait till he recovers!" she hissed, while Daifuku shook his head.

"No, the more we waste time, there is a risk of Mama finding out what has happened here! We need to resolve this before Mama finds out!" their 4th brother insisted, even as deep breaths were taken by most of the people present.

"Deidra, don't push yourself," Brulee fussed over her brother, even as she wiped his forehead, while he looked at his sibling with a terrified gaze.

"What happened?" Katakuri asked again, to which Deidra removed his mask and took a deep breath.

"Me and Chiffon and Lola were speaking in my room, when suddenly an alarm went around the building. Then before we could react, somebody walked into the room and then everything became pitch black! Before we could react, there was a loud bang, and then I lost consciousness! When I regained consciousness, I was trapped under the rubble with sister Chiffon unconscious atop me and Lola was missing," he paused, even as he turned to look at the surroundings and then sighed deeply.

There were deep hisses in the area as everybody reacted exactly as Deidra had predicted they would.

"So, Lola was with you and Chiffon then?" Oven asked Deidra once again, even as he looked at his little brother squarely in the eye.

"Of course, she was! why are you asking? Didn't she tell you?" he asked back in irritation, while the other's averted their eyes.

"What? What has happened?" Deidra asked in apprehension as he looked at his siblings, who shuffled awkwardly.

"Deidra," Brulee whispered softly, "Lola is missing," she spoke softly while Deidra gasped in shock.

"But that is …," he spoke out, even as Oven shook his head indicating that it was true.

"So, this was an attack aimed at getting Lola! But why?" Smoothie asked, even as everyone fell silent.

"Maybe … it was because of the wedding? I mean, there must be some people who are upset that we are gaining an alliance with the giants due to this marriage? Right?" Deidra asked in a soft tone, even as a current of shock rippled through everyone present.

_It is certainly true. At the very least, we know that Kaido and the Marines were apprehensive at this wedding take place, not to mention the World Government, _Perospero mused.

_With Deidra being who he is, he would be useless in a fight. Chiffon alone would not be strong enough to ward off a determined attack, and it would have been easy to carry off Lola during the attack, _Katakuri theorized even as he and Perospero looked at each other.

"So, Lola has been kidnapped with the aim of preventing our alliance with the giants," Perospero voiced out the thought that all of them were thinking.

"Who is going to tell Mama?" Daifuku asked the million-berri question, as everybody fell silent at that ominous question.


End file.
